Improvement in treadles for sewing-machines



vwILLIAIIII I-I. ELLIOT. Improvement in Treadle for Sewing Machines.

4.To 'whom it may concern;

ATENT. OFFICE.

'Y wiLLrAM H. Annmon'on New Yox, N. v.

IMPROVEMENT IN TREADLES FOR SEWING-MCHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 125,283, dated April 2, 1872.

Be it known thatA I,VVM.A H. ELLIOT, of the city, county,'and State of N ew York, have invented a new and Improved Treadle for Driving Light Machinery; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyin g drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same devices in all the figures.

To enable others skilled in the arts to comprehend, make, and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its `nature, construction, and operation.

The nature of my invention consists in constructing a trcadle in such a manner thatits foot-rest may be tilted upon several different axes, whereby the operatorismade to exercise a different set of muscles with each change of axes, giving him perfect rest in some sets of,

muscles while others are at work. To accomplish this I construct my treadle in three principal parts-viz.: Aswin g, which is pivoted to the frame in the axis of the iiy-wheel. This swing supports the spider, which is tilted upon an axis parallel with but below the axis of the iiy-wheel.. The spider supports the footrest, whichis tilted upon an axis at right angles to that of the iiy-wheel. parts are provided with lookin g levers or bolts, one of which locks the spider so as to prevent it from tilting upon its axis while it leaves the foot-rest free to tilt uponA its axis, or it locksl the foot-rest whiler it leaves the spider free. The other locking-lever locks the swing to the frame in different positions; or, liberating the swing, it locks the arms of the spider tothe frame, by which a compound movement ofthe foot-rest is produced. The notch for the locking-lever, which prevents the movement'of the spider upon its axis, is adjustable so as to accommodate the position of the several parts to the length ofthe pitman. The pitman is joined to the foot-rest by means of a universal joint, of peculiar construction, to accommodate the universal movement of the foot-rest. The universal joint is arranged at about equal distances from the axes of the spider and foot-rest, so that the movement of the foot-rest in either connection will be about the same.

These principal Figure l is a vertical section of the frame, fly-wheel, and treadle in and parallel with the axis of the y-wheel. Fig. 2 is a vertical crosssection of the frame and treadle at dotted line o. Fig. 8 is a vertical cross-section of the frame and treadle at dotted line a. Fig. et is a plan of the treadle and spider. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the locking-lever of the spider and foot-rest. A

a, frame; b, iiy -wheel; b', axis of the lywheel and also of the swing; b, crank; c, pitman; c', straps forming a part of the joints or bearings; c, screw and washer for fastening strap d, swing pivoted at b. This supports the spider and foot-rest upon the bracket cl. d', auxiliary foot-rest attached tothe swing; e, spider; c', axis or bearing ofthe same; e, ad-

justable head of the bracket d";' f, arm of the y spider; g, locking-lever or bolt, which locks the yswing in any desirable position, and also locks the arm fof the spider; g', stud and pivot supporting the same; h, spring which operates the lever g; h', support of the same; h, pin upon which lever g takes hold Vto lock the swing; t, foot-rest; i', axis or bearing of the same; fi, portions of the foot raised so that the feet may roll upon them from side to side when the foot-rest is moving upon its axis i; k, arm of the foot-rest; lr', ball or universal joint; a, locking lever or bolt; n,pivot of thev same; a, handle oi' the same; o, spring of bolt n; o,pin upon which spring o bears; r, tongue on bolt n, which enters notch r on the bracket-head 6; s, notches on bolt n for the reception of projections s' on the foot-rest for locking the same; u, point of section of Fig. 3 c, point of section of Fig. 2.

My invention is intended to improve the present method of driving light machinery, such as sewing-machines, knitting-machines, watch-lathes, Ste., by bringing into action, one after the other, several sets of muscles, so that whilethe operator is resting one set of muscles he will be workin g with another, and thus avoid those-physical evils which are always attendant upon the overworking of one part while other parts of the person are at rest.

The swing d is pivoted to the frame a at b in theaxis of the ily-wheel, and is supported at one side by the stud upon which the iiy-` wheel revolves, and at the other side by a bolt and nut. This swing, when not locked by lever g, is free to move back and forth upon its bearings b. Upon the lower part of the swing the brackets d are supported. Through these brackets the pins e pass, and serve as bearings upon which the spider@ tilts. The spider has ears turned up at the sides, through which the pins t" pass, and serve as bearings, upon which the foot-rest tilts. The arm lc is attached to the foot-rest and terminates in a ball, lc. This ball is equally distant from the axis e and the axis t', so that, while moving upon either of these axes, the amount of motion in the foot-rest is the same. l

To accommodate tall or short persons the swing, with the foot-rest upon it, is locked back or forward, to suit their convenience, by the locking-lever g taking hold upon pin 7W; and, as the pivot ofthe swing' is in the axis of the ily-wheel, its adjustment does not derange the operation of the foot-rest and pitman upon the crank.

It may be seen by the drawing, Fig. 3, that the rear end of the locking-lever g is pointed, and that spring h also has a corresponding prominent point when the lever is brought to a horizontal position, so as not to engage either with pin h or with arm f. The point of the lever stands exactly upon the point of the spring; but, when the lever is raised so/as to engage upon pin h to lock the swing', the point of the lever falls below the point on the spring and so holds the lever firmly upon the pin h, and so, also, when the lever is depressed to engage upon arm j', the point of the lever rises above the point on the spring and in the same way holds the lever firmly locked upon the. arm. The locking-lever or bolt 'n and spring o operate in the saine manner. IVhen this lever is engaged upon the foot-rest the point of spring-o, bearing'upon 011e side of pin o', keeps the lever firmly in place; and, when the tongue 1^ is in the notch r', the point of the spring o, bearing upon the other side of pin of, keeps the spider firmly locked to the adj nstable head c. Both of the locking-levers are shown in thedrawingin intermediate positions7 which leaves all parts free to move.

I have selected as a universal joint, to join the arm ofthe foot-rest to the pitman, what is known as the ball-and-socket joint; but, to save expense, I construct it by making half a socket for the ball in the lower end of the pitnnan, then nailing onto one side ofthe pitman the leather strap e', bringing it around and under the ball, fasten it upon the other side of the pitman by ascrew and washer c. The upper end of the pitman is fastened to the crank-pin in a similar manner. By this improvement I obtain a cheap7 perfectly noiseless, and easily adjusted universal joint. The same passes through an oblong hole in the strap, and to tighten thejoint it is only necessary to loosen the screw, draw the strap tight, and bind it again.

By my improved treadle I am able to bring into use the ankle-joints and the muscles that control them by locking the swing to the frame and the foot-rest to the spider; the foot-rest then tilts upon the axis of the spider e. This movement has generally been adopted for sewing-machines.

To bring into use the hip-joints and their muscles I lock the swing in its forward position by lever g, and, by moving lever n to the i right, I lock the spider to the swing and leave the foot-rest free to tilt upon its axis t. The feet, resting upon the raised surfaces t, rock from side to side upon them as the footerest tilts up and down upon its axis, and as one foot rests upon one side and the other foot upon the other side of axis t', the legs balance each other, which makes this movement exceedingly easy. The raised surfaces t may be made in separate pieces, and pivoted at each end t0 the foot-rest so asto roll or tilt upon axes parallel with the axis i. In this case they should be made to fit the bottom of the foot. These surfaces would thus tilt upon their own axes instead of rollin g under the feet. They should each have an arm projecting down from their under sides two or three inches in length, the

lower ends of which should be connected together by a rod, and the rod pivoted at its center to the spider. By these devices the surfaces t would always be kept in a horizontal position in the same manner that the platform of counter scales are held level. By locking the swing in its rear position a combined movement of the hips and knees is produced, while in both cases the ankles remain.

motionless.

To bring into use the knee-joints and their muscles I lock the arm f to the frame by lever g, and the foot-rest to the spider yby lever a. The. swing is thus caused to move back and forth by the foot upon the auxiliary footrest d. By this arrangement the spider with its arm f, and the foot-rest with its arm k, be comes a lever ot' the third order, the fulcrum being at the end of arm j', while its power is `in the axis c and its weight at lo.

While these devices are operating as a le ver between the swing and pitman the foot-rest is making a combined movement, caused by swinging back and forth upon the axis of the swing', and by being tilted upon the axis of the spider by the arm f; and, if the feet be placed upon the foot-rest@l instead of upon the auxiliary foot-rest df, there would be a combined movement of both the ankle and knee joints.

By supporting the spider upon the frame a, and dispensing with the swing-arm fand locking-lever g, the foot-rest would still have the two iirst movements, viz., one upon the axis e and one upon the'axis i. The adjustable head e would in that case be supported by the frame a instead of one of the brackets; the other end of the spider would also have a bearing in the other side of the frame. By this arrangement the most valuable part of the invention would be retained at a comparatively I small addition to the cost of treadles in com- 3. The 1ockinglever g, in combination with frame a and swing d, substantially as and for the purpose speciiied.

4. The method of constructing a universal joint, substantially as shown and described.

.5. The arrangement of the universal jointc in relation to the two axes e' and i', as specified.

WM. H. ELLIOT.

Witnesses:

G. L. OsGoOD, D. LEWIS. 

